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Professor Ron Hui received his BSc (Eng) Hons at the University of Birmingham in 1984 and a D.I.C. and PhD at Imperial College London in 1987. He was a Lecturer at the University of Nottingham, UK in 1987–90. In 1990, he joined the University of Technology, Sydney, and was appointed Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, in 1992, where he became a Reader in 1995. He joined the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) as a Professor in 1996 and was promoted to Chair Professor in 1998. In 2001–04, he served as an Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at CityU. From July 2011 to March 2024, he held the Chair Professorships at the University of Hong Kong and Imperial College London. From March 2021 to August 2023, he was the MediaTek Endowed Professorship at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. From September 2023 to December 2024, he was an Endowed Professor at HKU. Since January 2025, he is the Chair Professor of Power Electronics at the Department of City University of Hong Kong. Concurrently, he is also a part-time Chair Professor in Power Electronics at Imperial College London (since July 2010)
He has published over 500 technical papers, including more than 350 refereed journal publications, 190 conference papers, 3 books and 10 book chapters. Over 125 of his patents have been adopted by industry worldwide. He is a Fellow of the IEEE (2003) and IET (1996). Since 2013, he has been the Editor of the Journal on Selected and Emerging Topics in Power Electronics. He has been an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics since 1997 and was an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics from 2007 to 2020. He has been appointed twice as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer by the IEEE Power Electronics Society in 2004 and 2006. He served as one of the 18 Administrative Committee members of the IEEE Power Electronics Society and was the Chairman of its Constitution and Bylaws Committee from 2002-2010. He received the Excellent Teaching Award at CityU in 1998 and the Earth Champion Award in 2008. He won an IEEE Best Paper Award from the IEEE IAS Committee on Production and Applications of Light in 2002, and six 1st-Place IEEE Power Electronics Transactions Prize Paper Awards (2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022).
His inventions on wireless charging platform technology underpin key dimensions of Qi, the world’s first wireless power standard launched by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) in 2010, with freedom of positioning and localized charging features for wireless charging of consumer electronics. The Wireless Power Consortium now comprises over 430 companies worldwide. His inventions also influenced new wireless power standards launched by the WPC such as Ki and LEV. He pioneered the Photo-Electro-Thermal Theory for LED Systems, unifying the nonlinear interactions of heat, light, power and color under the same mathematical framework. He co-invented the Electric Spring technology as the fast demand-side response for smart grid with intermittent renewable energy sources.
In Nov. 2010, he received the IEEE Rudolf Chope R&D Award from the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, the IET Achievement Medal (The Crompton Medal) and was elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. In 2015, he received the prestigious IEEE Technical Field Award (IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award). He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, U.K. in 2016. In 2019, he was elected as a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors. He also won the Teaching Excellence Award at CityU in 1998 and Distinguished Research Achievement Award at HKU in 2019. In 2024, he received the IET JJ Thomson Medal for Electronics.
Prof. Hui has been consistently ranked within the top 20 scientists out of over 110,000 scientists in the field of Electrical Engineering (Energy) over the last few years in the Stanford University Top 2% Scientists List. In the 2025 Top 0.05% Scholars List, ScholarGPS ranks him World Number 1 in the areas of "Wireless Power Transfer" and "Battery Charger", and World Number 8 in the broad area of "Power Electronics".
Awards and Achievements
- Oct 2016 “Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering” Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom. The citation for his election reads:
"Professor Hui is a visionary inventor and researcher. His groundbreaking research focuses on power electronics, with emphasis on energy saving and reduction of electronic waste. His achievements involve fundamental engineering science and applications, influencing both academic and industrial worlds.".
- Nov 2010 “Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering” Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. The citation for election reads:
"For his pioneering work in power electronics, particularly in the areas of wireless power transfer and sustainable lighting technology, which have had a profound impact on both academic research and industrial applications.".
- Oct 2018 “Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors” US National Academy of Inventors. The citation reads:
"For his pioneering work in power electronics, particularly in the areas of wireless power transfer and sustainable lighting technology, which have had a profound impact on both academic research and industrial applications.".
- Oct 2015 “IEEE Technical Field Award (IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award)” The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "For contributions to power electronics applications in planar wireless charging and sustainable lighting technology.".
- Oct 2010 “IET Crompton Medal for Power” The Institution of Engineering and Technology, U.K..
- Nov 2014 “IET JJ Thomson Medal for Electronics” The Institution of Engineering and Technology, U.K.. "For his outstanding contributions to both academia and industry, particularly his pioneering work on modern planar wireless charging technologies, which underpin key dimensions of the world's first wireless charging standard 'Qi'.".
- Oct 2010 “IEEE Rudolf Chope Research and Development Award” The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). For contributions to sustainable lighting technologies.
- Jan 2012 “Croucher Senior Fellow” Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong.
- 1998 “Teaching Excellence Award” City University of Hong Kong.
- Oct 2019 “Distinguished Research Achievement Award” The University of Hong Kong.
Previous Experience
- Sep 2023 - Dec 2024, Chair Professor of Power Electronics and Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor of Electrical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong.
- Mar 2021 - Aug 2023, MediaTek Endowed Professor, Nanyang Technological University.
- 2011 - 2021, Chair Professor of Power Electronics and Philip Wong Wilson Wong Professor of Electrical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong.
- Jul 2010 - Now, Chair Professor of Power Electronics (part-time), Imperial College London.
- 1996 - 2010, Chair Professor of Power Electronics, City University of Hong Kong.
- 1992 - 1996, Senior Lecturer and then Reader of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney.
- 1991 - 1992, Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer of Electrical Engineering, University of Technology, Sydney.
- 1 Sep 1987 - 31 Dec 1990, Lecturer of Electrical Engineering, University of Nottingham.
Research Grants
- A Wireless Charging System Architecture and Control Scheme for Meeting the Paradigm Shift for the Next Generation, General Research Fund, Hong Kong Research Grant Council, Amount: HKD $1,038,967, Jan 2025 - Dec 2027, S.Y.R. Hui (PI).
- High-Frequency, High-Power and High-Efficiency Wireless Power Transfer Technologies, Theme-based Research Scheme, Hong Kong Research Grant Council, Amount: HKD $28,361,000, Nov 2024 - Oct 2029, S.Y.R. Hui (PC), SC Tan (PI), Alex Wong (PI), Kerui Li (PI), Jiayang Wu (PI).
Last update date :
19 Jan 2026
